Home Care In Topanga, CA

Construction will begin in a few days on a long-vacant Sears building near Westfield Topanga mall in Warner Center, according to representatives with the mall’s owner, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

The Paris-based mall giant will transform the 160,000-square-foot former department store into a posh entertainment complex with an upscale movie theater, bowling alley and restaurants.

The property, designed with three levels of glass and landscaping, will feature a grand entrance for Westfield Topanga, connecting the mall with The Village, across Victory Boulevard, making the area more walkable for visitors. The $250-million development is slated to open in late 2021.

“The thing that is really missing there is a significant dining and entertaining district,” said Larry Green, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s executive vice president for development. “What we’re doing is taking down the former Sears store and turning that space into a new front door for Topanga.”

The company says the Sears building at 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills will feature a chef-driven Food Hall along with upscale restaurants, lounges and cocktail bars, entertainment and recreational activities and landscaped indoor and outdoor public spaces and plazas.

The building was purchased by Westfield Corp. in 2015, a couple of years before the company was acquired by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, and has remained dormant since then.

The news comes as Westfield Topanga is currently undergoing a facelift. The mall has recently completed an interior renovation, including upgrading floors and all restroom facilities and family lounges.

The mall, which includes stores such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Target, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft along with luxury brands Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton, sits across the street from an upscale open-air The Village.

Combined, the two properties include nearly 350 shops, restaurants and personal service providers.

Minimal impact on mall guests is expected during construction, according to the company representatives. Shops and restaurants will remain open for business throughout the process.

The mall’s owner, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, is currently seeking to turn a largely vacant Promenade mall near Topanga mall into a mega-development with about 1,400 multi-family residential units, roughly 244,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, about 630,000 square feet of office space, with a hotel with up to 570 hotel rooms.

Last year, Los Angeles planning officials recommended a fully enclosed 7,500-seat arena as part of the massive development proposed for Woodland Hills that was half the capacity of the originally proposed 15,000-seat stadium.’

Within days, a group of Woodland Hills residents filed an appeal against the development.

TOPANGA, Calif. (KABC) -- As Santa Ana winds whipped across Southern California, raging flames burned through a structure after a brush fire broke out overnight near Topanga Canyon.

The fire sparked up in the windy conditions around 2 a.m. Thursday on Swenson Drive near Tuna Canyon Park, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Officials said forward progress was stopped after a few hours. The brush fire burned about roughly 3 acres and was 50% contained.

Firefighters were seen battling the flames as they consumed a structure that officials initially described as a two-story commercial building. However, AIR7 HD surveyed the damaged and the charred structure appeared to be a home, which caught fire then ignited the nearby brush, officials said.

"It was unbelievably insane," said Sandy Mastoras, who lives directly below the house that burned. She said she screamed for her husband and son when she noticed the fire. "You didn't hear anything; you just saw the flame and the light. It was like bright and very scary."

She then tried to wake up her neighbor, Roxane Berger, to warn her.

"She woke me up, honking her horn. I open up the door, and all I did was scream. I just figured that was easier than trying to explain anything to my husband," said Berger.

The last heavy rainfall actually helped firefighters slow down the spread of the fire.

"Normally, this time of year, the live fuel moisture, and the very large brush, that's 25, 30-year-old growth," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael McCormick. "Those moistures would be a lot lower than what they are currently, and that fire would have been able to take a lot more property to the ocean most likely."

No evacuations were ordered, but Southern California Edison said it shut off power in Las Flores Canyon in eastern Malibu.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Meanwhile, a red flag warning is now in place across parts of L.A. County. The warning for mountain and valley areas will remain in place through 6 p.m. Thursday.

Forecasters say some mountain areas could see gusts of up to 50 miles per hour. The windy and dry conditions mean an increased risk of wildfires.

I have obtained an audio recording of a secret meeting of the people who run California behind the scenes. The membership of the group has never been made public, but I can now confirm that it includes 10 environmentalists, 3 teachers, 2 bond underwriters, 8 plaintiffs’ attorneys, 6 professionally certified lunatics, the CEO of a candle company, 231 union leaders and one California business leader, calling in from his home in Toronto.

The group met after the latest flash-mob looting in the state, a highly publicized attack on the Nordstrom store at the Topanga mall in the west San Fernando Valley. In 1978, the Topanga mall was designated a protected habitat for Valley Girls.

“We have to do something about these smash-and-grab robberies,” said one of the professionally certified lunatics.

The union leaders threatened to walk out.

“May I share my screen?” the business leader asked.

No one answered.

“You’re on mute,” an environmentalist said.

“Oh, sorry,” the business leader said. “Here’s the video of the incident.”

He shared the recording of 30 or so masked thieves rushing through the sales floor of the department store, grabbing armloads of designer clothing from the racks. Some of the costly merchandise was secured to metal and glass display shelves with anti-theft cables. The video showed one thief carrying away a handbag still attached to the shelf unit, which dragged on the floor behind him like a reluctant dog on a leash.

“Our polling suggests,” said one of the bond underwriters, “that if we put a $20 billion prison-construction bond on the ballot, voters would go for it.”

Everybody threatened to walk out.

“No, really,” the bond underwriter continued. “There’s a perfect site right next to Nordstrom, the former Rocketdyne site. It’s where the Apollo moon mission engines were built. We could build a 35-story maximum security prison right there.”

“It’s contaminated from the Cold War,” said one of the lunatics. “It may not be suitable for human habitation.”

“It’s polling very well,” the bond underwriter said.

“Well, if we could put a man on the moon….” the lunatic said hopefully.

“We have to think about a more immediate solution,” an environmentalist growled. “Building things takes 20 years in California. We have to protect the endangered Valley Girls.”

“And the workers,” said a union leader.

“And the retailers,” said the business leader.

“You’re on mute,” said one of the teachers.

“All right,” said an environmentalist. “I’ve got it. Here it is. We’ll ban the cars.”

“In the Valley?” said a union leader. “Are you a lunatic?”

“How about just banning the getaway cars,” said one of the lunatics.

“That’s it!” said the environmentalist. “We’ll eliminate parking spaces near the stores! We’ll make it impossible for the getaway cars to park close to the exits! Then when the thieves run out of the store, they’ll have to wait for a clean electric shuttle!”

“And the shuttles won’t be working!” said another environmentalist. “So they’ll have to walk, and it’s 106 degrees on that pavement in the summer!”

Nearly everyone agreed this was an excellent plan.

“We’ll build low-income housing on the parking lot!” said a union leader.

“We’ll do a $30 billion bond for it!” said a bond underwriter.

“We’ll reserve 5% of the units for Valley Girls!” said an environmentalist.

The business leader carefully unmuted and spoke up. “It is not practical,” he said. “Retailers cannot survive without paying customers, and paying customers expect the convenience of parking and the security of safe surroundings. If there are no retail sales, there will be no sales tax revenue.”

That sent a shiver through the room.

“Here’s a better plan,” said one of the union leaders. “We’ll ban cars and build a new transit route right through the middle of the mall. The paying customers and the flash mobs will have to ride the train together.”

“That checks a lot of the boxes,” an environmentalist said. “I like it, too,” a plaintiff’s attorney chimed in. “The trains are filled with deranged and sometimes violent individuals. The city and county could face costly lawsuits.”

“We’ll support a tax increase,” the business leader said.

“Done!” said one of the teachers. “Who’s going to the Gascón fundraiser tonight?”

MALIBU, Calif. — Below an underused underpass that crosses beneath the Pacific Coast Highway snakes a quiet creek that once was teeming with life. It also used to be a lot bigger.

What You Need To Know

John Ota, an environmental scientist with California State Parks Angeles District, says the decades-old concrete structure restricted the width of Topanga Creek from what was once a quarter of a mile to now just 79 feet. Over time, that lack of space has taken a huge toll on the species that call the creek home.

“This particular creek is a little bit unique in Southern California in that it never completely dries up, which is why the tidewater gobies really like it here because they always have some water they can hang out in,” said Ota.

Those fish, once plentiful, are now endangered and facing possible extinction. There used to be several hundred to several thousand of them at the site depending on the time of year, Ota noted, but no longer.

“We haven't seen any this year,” he said.

Ota is also concerned about another native Southern California species, the steelhead trout, which also relies on this waterway.

“Almost every creek in Southern California was dammed at one time or another, which prevents the steelhead from being able to swim up and spawn,” Ota said. “Topanga Creek is one of the few that have never been dammed, so it really presents a great opportunity for the recovery of the steelhead.”

Restoration is slow work and this project in particular is complicated, but the tide may be turning. The land that makes up the Topanga Lagoon and its surroundings is owned by different agencies — State Parks, Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors — all working together with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains to determine the best way to protect the beach, the fish, the open space and a unique historic site.

“These cabins were originally part of the 1924 Cooper’s Auto Camp,” Barbara Tejada explained while walking past the very rundown remnants of a collection of cabins.

Tejada is the cultural resource program manager for California State Parks, Angeles District. To her, this facility is a gem — a vestige of a time when people would use autocamps for beach getaways. It’s badly in need of repair, and cabins will have to be moved now that vegetation has overtaken them. But she says removing them entirely would mean losing a piece of local history.

“It is a kind of interesting and funky little bit of history here that would be great to preserve at least a part of,” Tejada said. “It is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places just because it is one of the few surviving 1930s-period Auto Court configurations.”

Not to mention the history of the land long before that, when it was an important location for local Native American tribes.

"This has many layers of cultural history, both to the Native American history, the early recreation history and up to the kind of counterculture history that developed post WWII," said Tejada.

Behind the motel, there is another facet to all of this. An overgrown, rather unknown trail system sits on California State Parks land, tucked between the coastline and the mountain. It, too, would require some rehabilitation. Conservation biologist Jamie King of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains says it’s rife with invasive plants that need to be eradicated but has the potential to showcase the area’s diversity.

“The intention is to create a really cool trail system that goes basically to the creek, crosses the creek and allows you to access the beach on both sides,” King explained. “And so it gives a real opportunity for the visiting public to see not only the beautiful beginning of the mountain sides, but also get access to the beach and go through the full suite of habitats.”

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There are currently four possibilities being considered for the lagoon and its surrounding environment, and they each have different goals. One plan would maximize the lagoon, which would mean getting rid of the motel entirely. A plan that prioritizes the motel means fewer acres for the lagoon. A third option puts the emphasis on protecting the beach and beach facilities from sea-level rise. And, of course, there’s also a fourth option of doing nothing at all.

No restoration project comes without change, which is why the groups involved want to be in constant contact with the community to hear their concerns. At least one of the options would displace some local businesses. Ota says surfers are also worried about changes to the beach that sees roughly 1 million visitors per year.

“This is one of the oldest surf spots in Southern California and the world, essentially,” he said. “If we alter how the water flows, even if it's good for the fish, there's some concerns. 'Is this going to affect the breaks?'"

This is just the beginning. There will be years of conversation, planning and public review, putting possible construction estimates into 2027 the earliest. Balancing the demands of nature, history and infrastructure isn’t easy, but after roughly two decades of interest and a recent state grant for the project, talks are starting to really flow — and those involved hope the public will wade into it with them.

Chatsworth volunteers lined Topanga Canyon Boulevard to remind residents to clean up after themselves and each other.

|Updated Wed, Nov 3, 2021 at 6:19 am PT

CHATSWORTH, CA — Chatsworth volunteers hit the West Valley streets Friday with bright yellow signs that read "please don't litter our streets," encouraging their neighbors to help keep the Valley clean.

The volunteers lined Topanga Canyon Boulevard from the State Route 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway) to Ventura Boulevard — a distance of nearly eight miles — at every stoplight. The day included about 40 volunteers, said Jill Mather, founder of the Chatsworth-based nonprofit Volunteers Cleaning Communities.

"[Littering] become an absolutely insane problem. The city just can't do it on their own. The community has to get involved and help out. It's our community. A community's like a family, you always help your family. So people need to get out and help their community," Mather said.

The group can normally be found picking up trash in yellow vests, but this week they decided to step up their messaging.

"It was really a friendly callout to the community," Mather said. She added: "I'm always trying to think of interesting things to get people involved."

Find out what's happening in Northridge-Chatsworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The event was a huge success, Mather said, as motorists passing by honked and gave the volunteers thumbs up. Mather has already seen repeat volunteers from Friday's event.

Littering has become a bigger issue in the San Fernando Valley in recent years, Mather said, which she attributes to increasing homelessness in California, lifestyle changes due to the pandemic and civic anger.

The population of people experiencing homelessness has been increasing for years in California, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Encampments often create a lot of litter, Mather said. She and her volunteers with work individuals experiencing homelessness to help clean up encampments.

"I'm not going to blame it on the unhoused, but there's a huge amount of trash from the unhoused," Mather said.

Additionally, the pandemic has led to a massive increase in single-use materials that often ends up as litter, such as masks and to-go food containers. The pandemic has also caused a certain fatigue for citizens, Mather said, contributing to apathy about the environmental impact of litter and trash. Frustration with the city's failure to address littering and trash caused by encampments also contributes to this apathy, Mather said.

"The general public has gotten very apathetic to trash because they see so much of [the] kind of trash that angers them. And so they say, I'm guessing, 'why should I worry about trash when the city is not worrying about it?'" she said. She added: "People have just gotten lazy about it, they just don't care."

Mather's organization will be holding another sign holding event on Tampa Avenue on Dec. 3, and plans to do a different major street every month.

"There are the people like myself or my volunteers who already have the mentality that it's wrong. I personally do not want a trash-heap world for my grandkids or my kids or anybody, and it will be that," Mather said.